Harbaugh is leaving all the pregrame talk and analysis of how the teams match up to others. He knows all that will matter at the end of the day will be what the teams do between the white lines Sunday at Bank of America Stadium.

"We will put our best players on the plane and fly out to Charlotte and play the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, and see if our best players are better than their best players," Harbaugh said.

Harbaugh was a man of few words when he took part in a conference call with local and national media members from the Carolinas on Wednesday ahead of the NFC Divisional Playoff. He took much the same approach before the teams' regular season meeting.

His quarterback followed in kind.

How has the return of wide receiver Michael Crabtree helped the 49ers offense?

"He means a great deal," Colin Kaepernick said.

Will we see more offense Sunday than we did in the Panthers' 10-9 victory in Round One?

"We'll find out on Sunday."

The longest answer provided by either Kaepernick or Harbaugh involved what was happening Wednesday – not what happened in the past, not what could happen in the future.

"They have a pep in their step today, and we're looking forward to a great day of practice," Harbaugh said. "It will be our goal to make it our best practice of the year, best drills that we've had all season, the best meetings of the season. That's our goal."

While his answers don't easily lend themselves to good copy, but that's not Harbaugh's job. Preparing for the Panthers is.

"The Carolina Panthers are a very formidable football team," he said. "A very good football team."